As a second semester senior, I only took this class because I needed a practical art during this time slot. That being said, I've gotten a lot better at editing and learned some pretty cool things. Though I do not intend to continue on in this course, it's improved my video-making skills, which I can apply to other subjects and areas. Also, since this class is aimed towards freshmen and other underclassmen, it was a pretty light workload and flexible in comparison to all of the AP classes I've been taking. As such, many of the projects seemed to have loads of time to complete (except for the news package, which was incredibly time-consuming).

This project was an accumulation of all the skills we've learned all semester. As such, it was definitely an undertaking. While other projects we've done have only taken a class period or two to actually complete, the editing took forever, since I had lots of B roll. With all these materials, it was difficult for me to condense and only choose the best. I got some really cool shots from April Showers, but due to time constraints, I had limited footage from the Girl Scout meeting, since most of my time was spent interviewing. I feel like I understand broadcast a lot better after completing the project.

Soul Food:Hey- My attention was drawn in by the backwards-thrown dart, and her hair standing up.You- She loves doing her job, not just for the money, and I've definitely benefited from cafeteria workers in my life that I don't think about.See- Her four children all graduated from college while she worked as a cafeteria worker, she feeds people constantly, and she still owns her family's property.So- Viewers should feel inspired to give back and feel grateful for all of the opportunities they have.

Odd Couple:Hey- Seeing an elephant grabs my attention, especially if it's located in Tennessee where it's not found in the wild.You- Like an elephant, I also have best friends that I would do anything for.See- Dogs and elephants coexist at this sanctuary, the sanctuary contains 2700 acres, and the dog trusts the elephant not to step on her.So- People can get along, despite any major differences between them.

This process was fairly simple; beyond a few sentences that had been started over, my mom has explained the Gold Award and other opportunities for adults to countless people, so her explanation was clean and concise. Thus, the raw interview only needed a little bit of tweaking for the final project. I noticed I could have done better at asking her to tell me about the topics, but my questions were still open-ended. I hope to bring more attention to older Girl Scouting, because when I tell people I'm still a Girl Scout, I get two responses: first, that they didn't realize Girl Scouts kept going, and second, that they wish they had stayed in for the college application. Often people are much more familiar with the Boy Scout concept of Eagle Scout (which I'll point out, is easier to get than the Gold Award) and I wish to bring more equal representation.

Interviewing practice wasn't all that difficult. For me, the hardest part was rephrasing the "questions." I'm pretty good at asking open-ended questions, but it's harder to get rid of "Can you tell me about this?" I also had several options as to who I wanted to interview. I ended up going with my mother because she was mostly accessible and most people don't know that Girl Scouting continues past selling cookies. She's an expert because she's been doing Girl Scouts for fourteen years, serving as cookie parent, troop leader, and district chair, as well as attending the past two national conventions. It was kind of difficult to find a suitable location, because the office where she does most of her work is not all that organized, so I had her wear her uniform rather and film in a location more suitable in regards to light and space.

This was a fun project. It took several brainstorms to come up with an idea I was happy with, but I wanted to film it at home yet had almost no time to do so. With my constrained timeline, I also didn't want to check out any equipment, so instead I used the school-issued iPad, and created my own puzzle prop.Even though my video was autobiographical, I wished to film it, so I cast my sister as myself (as we look quite similar) and gave her my glasses to wear, although that left both of us quite visually impaired.Another struggle was the lack of a tripod; I had to improvise with various pieces of furniture, and an overhead shot that required a step stool and a teetering pile of books. Luckily, no people or objects were damaged.This story specifically deals with lack of concentration; while pretty much everyone can relate to being distracted, I have ADD and it really affects how I learn and study, especially when I am unmedicated. I feel it's misunderstood, like OCD, in the sense that everyone self-diagnoses and don't understand the distinct hardship that is trying to focus when your brain is going a hundred miles an hour in just as many directions, and belittle it as a simple lack of self-control.

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn" is the most famous shortest story. Commonly attributed as Ernest Hemingway's response to a bet, it's inspired generations of writers to come up with stories that invoke emotions, whether positive or negative, with only six words. For our project, we have to write a six word story about ourselves, with six unique shots accompanying.

I enjoyed editing with Final Cut. It has a simple interface and is not as persnickety as iMovie can be. All the options of music, video effects, titles, and transitions can be a bit overwhelming. I look forward to editing more and exploring this software, as this project was a simple look into the basics. I'm still not quite sure how to remove video effects of which I'm not too fond; however, it wasn't too important to this project, so I'm sure I will have that opportunity in the future. Altogether, a quick and lovely experience delving into Final Cut.

This was the first graded project of actually shooting footage. Having missed a few practice days and lacking a partner, I found it slightly challenging to remember all the steps, set up, and shoot by myself. Most of my shots don't have much action, simply because I was by myself, but I think it turned out fine anyway, as I tried to implement some of my humor into them instead. I enjoyed trying to find cool vantage points to take the different shots; for example, for the wide shot of the front of the school, I climbed upon the concrete of the school sign. Also, all the trophy cases I remembered from my previous years here had disappeared during the construction, so I had to scout out some new trophies to shoot. Learning how to edit this project with Final Cut will be interesting.